Traction-engine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 EVHUBER.

TRACTION ENGINE. I No. 271,464. Patented Jan.80, 1883.

N. PETERS. Phubiilhcgnphur. Waahingwn. D. C-

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

E. HUBER.

TRACTION ENGINE. No. 271,464. Patented Jan.30, 1883.

(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 3. E. HUBER.

TRACTION ENGINE. No. 271,464. Patented Jan. 30, 1883.

llllllllllllllm Wdneaae-s, Ina-an er lw ma %w/W UNTTED STATES PATENT @rrrea.

EDWARD HUBER, OF MARION, OHIO.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,464, dated January 30, 1888.

Application filed January 3, 1882.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD Hnnnmof Marion, in the county of Marion, and in the State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Engines and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

My invention relates toccrtain special improvements in traction or road engines, and has especial reference to the three following points or features, viz: first, to constructing the gearing which communicates rotary motion to the driving-wheels in such manner that it will be compensating; secondly, to producing peculiar means whereby said gearing may be instantly rendered non-compensating; and, thirdly, to constructing the peripheries of the driving and supporting wheels in such manner as -to make them operate successfully on both hard and soft ground, and to prevent lateral slipping when traveling on hill-sides, or roads inclining from the center to the sides, each of which several features will be hereinafter more specifically pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings, which'make a part of this specification, like letters of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts, and in which Figure 1 represents a plan view of my improved traction or road engine; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a like view of the driving gear-wheel and the several devices which cooperate immediately therewith Fig. 4, a sectional view taken longitudinally through the main drivingshaft and. the several gear-wheels which togetherconstitutc my improved compensatinggear; Fig. 5, a transverse sectional view taken through the rim of one of the maindriving-wheels, showing the relative thickness of the peripheral ribs or projections, to be more fully pointed out hereinafter; and Fig.6, asimilar view through the rim of one of the front wheels, showing the relative diameters of the periphery thereof.

The letter A designates the main driving gear-wheel, which is of ordinary construction, and which is fitted on the rear axle or shaft of the traction-engine, and is adapted to freely rotate thereon.

(No model.)

Rigidly secured to the hub of one of the driv- I ing-wheels, or made integral therewith, is an auxiliary gear-wheel, B. Said gear islocated in close proximity to the main driving gear-- wheel above alluded to, and rotates with the driving-wheel, to the hub of which it is secured.

The letter 0 refers to another or an auxiliary gear-wheel of larger diameter than the gearwheel B, and whichis provided with a hub or lateral boss, 0, the said gear being rigidly secured or keyed to the rear axle of the engine. Journaled to the main driving gear-wheel near its periphery, and at approximately dianietrical points, are two systems of pinious, D and E, each of which systems is composed of three pinions, E, E and E and D D D respectively. The pinions D and D of the system D are secured to one shaft, and the pinions E and E of the system E are also secured to one shaft. The pinions D and E arerespectively provided with a shaft.

The letters Y Y indicate two yokes or brackets secured to the main driving-gear A, forming journals for the outer ends of the shafts of the pinions above referred to, the body of the main driving-gear forming the opposite journals for the said shafts.

It will be observed by referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings that the pinions D and E both intergear with the gear B, and respectively with the pinions D and E, and the pinions D and E which are secured respectively to the same shafts as the pinions last above mentioned, intergear both with the gear 0, thus -resulting in a geared connection of the main driving-wheel G, which, as has heretofore been mentioned, is free to revolve on the rear axle independently of the rotation of said axle and of the main driving-wheel G, which is rigidly secured to the saidr'ear axle with the main driving gear-wheel A. Thus it will also be observed that the geared connection existing between the said main driving gear-wheel A and the main driving-wheels Gr and G is mechanically different, this difference resulting from the difference or inequality in the diameter of the auxiliary gearwheels B and 0. Therefore when rotary motion is imparted to the main driving-gear A by means of suitable gearing interposed between it and the engine shaft, and its said gear-wheel A in turn imparts rotation to the driving-whee1s G and G, the power exerted is greater on the one than on the other wheel, the difference in power resulting from the difierence in the diameter of the auxiliary gears B and C, before alluded to. This result may be obtained by a slight modification of this part of my invention, such modification consisting in making the gears B and G of equal diameter and the pinions of unequal diametersthat is to say, making the pinions designated by the letters I) and E of a diameter which, though corresponding as between themselves, yet differs from that of the pinions D and E or D and E.

In the traction-engines in which the axle revolves there is greater resistance to the main driving-wheel secured to the axle than to the one which loosely revolves independently of the axle, this inequality in resistance resulting from the fact that the weight of the engine is on the axle, and the friction caused by such weight forms the source of resistance. The difference in the power exerted on the respective main driving-wheels by reason of the difference in the diameters of the auxiliary gearwheels compensates for the inequality of the resistance to said driving-wheels, and practically renders the power which each drivingwhecl receives from the main driving gearwheel the same, the resistance caused by the friction above alluded to consuming the extra power which one wheel would otherwise re? ceive, thus, it will be observed, resulting in a perfect balance or distribution of the power originally exerted for propelling my engine or an engine having my improved gear applied thereto; and,on the otherhand, the twodrivingwheels being independent of each other in turning or rounding curves, the one traveling in the longer are is free to revolve more rapidly than the other, thus avoiding all twisting and distorting tendency to the engine.

The second part of myinvention relates to a device for rendering the compensating-gear above described noncompensating, the object being to prevent the undue slipping of either of the main driving-wheels in passing over slippery or soft ground. It consists of providing the pinions I) and E with flanges, lugs, or projections I, which extend beyond the peripheries thereof, and of supplying the hub O withan annulus, H, grooved on its circumference and adapted to receive a second annulus, H, whose inner periphery is pro-- vided with an annular flange, which fits into the groove above mentioned, the said flange and groove serving to keep the one annulus in place on the other, and yet permitting ot'their independent movement. To the annulus H is secured a suitable yoke, K, which passes through guides K, fixed to the frame. Interposed between the said yoke and the fixed guide, or otherwise suitably arranged, is a spring, which serves to keep the annuli H and H out of the line of travel of the flanges I, and to a convenient part of the yoke is also flexibly connected a lever, L, by means of which the above-mentioned annuli are advanced from their normal position.

From the foregoing it will be observed that when the engine is passing over soft or slippery ground, and either driving-wheel is found to slip or rotate independently of the other, they may be instantly locked together by advancing the annuli H 1.1 laterally until the latter engages the flanges I on the pinions l) and E preventing their further rotation, and that consequently of the other pinions around their respective axes, resulting in practically uniting the main driving gear-wheel A positively with the driving-wheels (land G, and thus causing a union of rotation.

That part of myinventionhereinbefore designated as the first and second parts, it will be observed, may be applied to any other purpose than a traction-engine.

The third part of my invention appertains to the peculiar construction of the peripheries of thedriving and supporting wheels; and it consists in making the outer surface of the rims of the front wheels, M, of two diameters, the larger serving to prevent lateral slipping by reason of its sinking into the ground, and the smaller serving to support the weight and ride over the soil, which is rendered more solid 9 by reason of the lateral displacement effected by the sinking of the larger diameter of the rim into the earth. 011 hard roads the larger periphery forms the supporting-surface of the rim, and, being slightly narrower than the remaining part of the rim, it acts as an ordinary narrow-faced rim where there is no tendency to sink. The peripheries of the driving-wheels are similarly constructed to those of the front wheels, with the addition of a series of raised projections, d 0, those on the larger diameter being broad and shallow and those on the smaller diameter being narrower and thicker. The broad shallow projections (I serve to prevent the wheels from slipping while passing over hard or macadamized or plank roads or bridges, and being broad, they cause the engine to ride smoothly. The narrower and thicker projections on the smaller diameter serve to take into softer ground, and form an additional safeguard or resistance against slipping, and acting, as they do, in the more solid portions of the ground, (caused as above described,) they form, in connection with the noncom 'iensating device, (by which the drivingwheels are locked together,) a perfect and reliable means of preventing the independent or joint slipping of the drivers, and efiectually overcome the practical ditficulties heretofore experienced in this particular in the use of traction-engines. The openings in the smaller diameter (indicated by the letterf) are to allow the mud to pass through and prevent the clogging or filling up of the spaces between the projections 0. These openings may be cut between any number of the projections.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a compensating-gear, of a loosely-mounted main driving gear-wheel having diametrically-disposed systems of gears journaled thereto near its periphery, each system consisting of two intermeshing pinions on one side and a single pinion 011 the other, with a gear-wheel made integral with the driving-wheel and meshing with one pinion of each system on one side thereof, and a gear-wheel fixed to the axle and meshing with both pinions on the opposite side of the-drivinggear, substantially as shown and'described.

2. The combination of the flanges, their pinions D and E with the annuli, and means for shifting the same and producing the noncompensating gear, substantially as described.

3. For a traction-engine, a main driving- ED WARD HUBER.

Witnesses J. E. DAVIDS, C. DAVIDS- 

